It Takes a Village

It Takes a Village

Yanvis stood up straight and stretched his hands above his head, enjoying the silence of the bar as the seemingly last patron of the night leaves. Even if someone else did come in he’d have to turn them away, it’s 5 minutes to closing time. He really hopes he doesn’t have to do that though, Leah has always been better about that than he has. Takes him ten minutes to talk someone out after closing time, she can do it in one. 

There’s a deep sigh as he feels the cold February night air rushes its way into the building as the door slides open. He doesn’t even finish turning around before he starts his spiel. “Hey sorry, we’re not quite closed, but no use not even having enough time to finish one drink ri-” he stops once he finishes turning around. 

He’s not sure what he expected, but the look of anxiety and annoyance at having to shoo out someone looking to get drunk is replaced with a bright smile as he spots the long blonde hair, green eyes, and athletic build of his best friend, Eris Reid. 

“Wasn’t expecting you today.” are the first words to come out of his mouth.

“Gotta keep you on your toes.” she says, reflecting his own smile back at him.

“Fair enough, I could’ve already had some tea ready if I knew you were coming over though. This’ll have to do for now.” comes his reply as he’s already turning around and grabbing a glass. He pulls down one of the levers behind the bar and lets dark bubbly liquid fill the cup quickly, the sweet scent of Diet Coke hitting his nose. 

He doesn’t quite fill it to full even if he’s had to practice that skill, but only because it would ruin the next part. He sets the glass on the bar away from Eris, letting the liquid stop swishing around before there’s another flurry of motion as he shoves it towards Eris. He watches it abruptly stop as it fits snuggly into a hand that looks rugged and delicate all at once. It only takes him a second to test her reflexes again when he tosses a straw at her. Trained fingers snatch it out of the air without issue. 

“You know this is gonna stop being cute the one time it spills right?” Yanvis says with a chuckle. He’s not gonna be the one to point out that this small ritual was his idea. 

“Your bar, your mess.” she says, a small smirk on her lips before she drinks some of the diet coke.

"You know sometimes you're like the annoying little sister I always wanted." says Yanvis with a deep chuckle.

He can see the playful irritation in Eris' eyes as she tears her eyes away from her glass and glances back up at him. She wastes no time in jabbing her pointer finger in his face before speaking up.

"One, little but much smarter and more mature sister. Two, you already have two sisters, you do not need a third. Three, how many times have I warned you about not angering the woman who knows where you keep the knives?" she says. Points two and three were emphasized by her uncurling another finger, leaving Yanvis with three green fingernails being jabbed upwards towards his face. Three sharp objects being pointed in his direction already gives the threat of knives joining their friendly conversation more weight, and he puts his hands up in surrender.

"Alright, alright, you win. You got me on two points at least. Though, let's be honest, I don't have two sisters. I have a surrogate mom and an archnemesis." he says as Eris' assault with a well manicured weapon ends as her hand rests back on the bar. There's a pause as she processes what was just said.

"That is true. Your family life is...complex." she says slowly. Despite her rough and tumble lifestyle, there are times you could confuse Eris Reid with royalty, the way she can make even the most neutral of statements sound elegant and weighty.

There’s a bit of a silence before she speaks up again. “Onto other topics, you seem chipper lately. Well, that or you pushed the glass that fast at me out of anger instead of excitement, but it has been quite some time since you’ve complained about Nimue.” 

“I do?” Yanvis says as he blinks in surprise. He hadn’t expected any noticeable change in his mood, but the people have a way of reminding him that they’re more perceptive than average. One hand goes to scratch the back of his head instinctually. “Guess I can’t keep anything secret from you.”

“It wouldn’t be your best course of action.”

He releases a bit of a sigh, not quite ready to talk about this yet. “I might kinda sorta be dating someone.” he says, drawing it out a bit. 

It’s her turn to blink in surprise. He can watch the gears turning in her head behind those emerald green eyes. Her hands, barely able to keep still at the best of times due to her active lifestyle are an even bigger indicator of it than her face. The fingers of one drum on the wood tabletop of the bar. The other grips her straw between two other graceful fingers and lightly stirs the liquid in her cup. Eventually her voice cuts through the newfound silence.

“When did you meet her?” comes her voice, low and distracted, like she has something else she’s thinking about saying. Her nails continue to clack on the tabletop in a rhythm, four at a time. 

Clack. Clack. Clack. Clack.

“At the Christmas party actually. When I snuck out for a smoke break. She had come to use the bar but well, we were technically closed at the time, so we talked instead, and then she needed to visit the bar to give me my jacket back and well…” he trails off, thinking the picture had been made clear.

“You know no one believed you when you said your jacket blew away in the wind, correct?” she said, a little louder this time, and a smile playing on her lips.

“Yeah, but everyone was having too much of a good time to ask follow up questions, so I still won.” Yanvis says, with a fake victorious laugh.

“What’s she like?” comes her next question. She takes another sip of her cola as she awaits the answer. 

Clack. Clack. Clack. Clack.

“She’s great, she’s witty and sarcastic. Just really really fun to be around. Maybe a bit distant at times, but we haven’t even known each other for two months, she’s allowed to not tell me everything yet.” he says. His bit of exasperation at that fact coming out more obviously than he would’ve liked. 

“Speaking of. Does she know? About Sael?” she says as the drumming of her fingers becomes faster and louder, though that second part might be his imagination. 

Clack. Clack. Clack. Clack.

Yanvis hesitates, the drumming driving him crazy at this point. He takes a step back from the counter, hoping to distance himself a bit from the noise. There’s another deep sigh from the man in the red coat before he responds.

“Yeah, she knows. I didn’t tell her the specifics, but she knows it was my fault.” he says. There’s a defeated tone in his voice, he wasn’t prepared to talk about that again so soon after mentioning it to Allie. 

Clack. Clack. Clack. Clack.

“Yanvis I…” Eris begins to speak before trailing off. She looks back down to her drink like it would have the answers about if whatever she wanted to say was something she was allowed to. Eyes as brilliant as gems flick up to meet his own. The comparison is apt, since for a split second there’s a hardness in those eyes he’s not used to seeing, but he knows what it says. Those are eyes saying I love you, but for your own sake do not f**k this up, do not break another woman’s heart.

Clack. Clack. Clack. Cl-

“I’m glad she makes you happy.” Eris says as her eyes soften again, her hand laying flat on the bar now. 

Yanvis can feel the pressure in the room dissipate immediately, and he breathes a small sigh of relief, before Eris says something even scarier to him.

“Have you told your sister yet?”

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Yanvis sighs as he sits on the white pristine couch, slightly curling up into himself. He's a little nervous about telling Elmyra about this. He hadn't seriously dated since what happened with Sael. She loves him more than anyone else, but she's also perceptive, scarily so. She's gonna look into his damn soul if she thinks there's a hint of him repeating a mistake like that.

Yanvis is stirred out of his thoughts as he hears heavy footsteps come from the next room over until the doorway from the kitchen to the living room is filled by a 6'1 wall of a woman.

He gives a small wave which she gives back, a smile on her face as she walks up to the couch and plants herself down next to him. She stretches her arms all over the back of the couch, seemingly trying to expand in every direction. A sharp contrast to him curling up, taking up as little room as he can. 

"What's up short stuff?" comes her voice, loud as ever. 

"I told you not to call me that. I'm not short, I'm average height." his voice is a bit whiny, but there's a small smile on his face. She's disarming, this type of teasing has been able to go past his defenses for close to a decade now. 

"Yeah, but you also told me to stop calling you 'Little Guy' last week. I'm gonna run out of nicknames for you at this rate, why do you hate my fun?" 

"I dread to imagine what you're gonna think of next."

“Oh, I already know that you’re gonna love it.” Katarina fires back, Yanvis can hear the mirth in her voice. 

The unmistakable clattering of ceramic draws attention to the third occupant of the house, still in the same room Katarina appeared out of. Yanvis can feel himself sitting up just a bit straighter as he realizes his sister is gonna be in the room sooner rather than later. 

There’s a small clap that echoes throughout the room as Yanvis winces at the sudden weight placed on his shoulder. He can feel Kat’s hand lightly squeeze his shoulder, possibly in some kind of reassurance, but all it really does is remind him that she could toss him like a ragdoll if she so chose. 

“Watch out Little Red Riding Hood, here comes the Big Bad Wolf.” comes her voice, chuckling at her own pun. 

“Says the woman wearing a cat ate the canary grin.” another voice cuts through, this one softer but sharper compared to the boisterous all encompassing sound of Katarina’s. Yanvis glances and only sees that grin deepening, though there’s a bit of merciful silence from her as Elmyra walks into the room, holding a small tray with three tea cups. Delicate hands set the small tray down onto the table before quickly setting each cup with its occupant. 

The aroma of black tea with admittedly entirely too much sugar hits his nose as his cup is placed in front of him. He watches as Elmyra sets the next cup in front of Katarina, black coffee with nothing added. His taste buds and tongue reacting negatively to remembering the one time Katarina secretly switched their cups to see what he drank, with him not at all enjoying the bitter taste. Elmyra scolded Kat for that one, even if someone who knows Elmyra as well as him could see the small smile on her face. 

He couldn’t see inside of Elmyra’s cup as she took it and sat on the recliner on the opposite end of the table from Katarina and himself, but her favorite is green tea. It matches her calm demeanor and green color scheme. Her overly large sweater and the distance between them almost makes Yanvis forget that she's nearly as tall as Katarina, a full head taller than him. He watches as she’s the first one to take a sip of her drink.

“Awww, you didn’t use my special mug.” Katarina playfully complains.

“You know I don’t like using that one when we have guests.” comes Elmyra’s calm voice again.

“But it makes me look like I’m drinking mead in an old fantasy tavern, it’s awesome! Besides, it’s just Yavnis, the lil’ guy is family, literally.” Katarina says.

“I already told you not to call me th-” his complaint is silenced and replaced by a small yelp as an arm bigger than any he’s ever seen wraps around his neck, the fact that she’s wearing a black tank top giving him full view of how many muscles flex just from a lazy low effort movement like this. Once the arm is secure he’s suddenly pulled slightly closer to the blonde titaness beside him. The pressure is far from enough to be choking, but the mere presence of it doing enough to stop him in his tracks. He winces as he feels the fist of her other hand lightly tap his head. He tries to wriggle out to no avail as it lifts back up and sits back down on the top of his head in slightly different positions.

“Perfect.” he hears her voice and her low chuckle, now closer than before. Perfect? Perfect for what?

The pressure increases on his head as her fist pushes down further while also moving back and forth, rubbing against his scalp. He tries wriggling slightly again as she continues her noogie, but the arm around his neck doesn’t even have to do anything to hold him still. 

He can hear a giggle familiar to him, but not one he hears very often, and tears his eyes away from the object snaked around his neck and to his sister, who is hiding what is undoubtedly a smile behind a hand. “You may have a point there.” she says, clearly amused by the display. 

Katarina continues her assault on his cranium for a few more seconds before both of her arms leavehis person, and he tries to retreat to his end of the couch as much as he can. Unfortunately he was already sitting on the far end of the couch and she decided to sit in the middle, so there was no more ground to cede to her. Though thankfully it looks like she had her fill of fun, as he watches her grab the tea cup in front of her. He decides to do the same, albeit trying to keep his face out of view from the two women in the room, feeling the heat on his face from embarassment. 

There’s the sound of a throat clearing as the energy in the room suddenly changes, he can feel Elmyra’s eyes on him, understanding but piercing all at once. He takes another sip of his tea, keeping his head down, before finally making eye contact. 

“You said you wanted to talk?” comes her voice again. If Eris could tell, then Elmyra definitely could, and she could probably sus out the cause of his behavior, this is merely a formality for both of them. 

“I’m dating someone.” he says, a bit sheepish but more confidently than when he told Eris, since he was prepared this time. He tries to sit up straighter again, hoping this time Katarina doesn’t ruin it. She mercifully lets the conversation play out for a bit longer without incident. 

“I see she gave you back your jacket. Did you know her before that?” 

“N-no that was my first time meeting her. When did you find out?” Yanvis asks as the blush comes back to his cheeks.

“You went out for a cigarette and came back without your coat and smelling like lavender, did you truly think I wouldn’t notice? And besides…” a small wistful smile comes to her lips, like she was reliving events long since passed. “...you’ve never been able to hide a crush from me.” Elmyra finishes as she begins to take another sip of her tea.

“Is she hot?” the blonde troublemaker in the room found another spot to sow chaos. Elmyra nearly chokes on her tea, and Yanvis goes dangerously quiet, staring at the floor. 

“I do not think that’s one of the things we need to question, Katarina!” Elmyra speaks up first, embarrassed once again by her girlfriend’s lack of tact, even if in this instance it’s around family. 

“I’m just saying that short king here has game. I mean you’ve seen Sael. I’d be lying if I said I fully get the appeal. I like my partners more…unflappable than Yanvis here, no offense. But the kid has had some luck.” Katarina mentions matter of factly with a shrug and another flash of her teeth at the woman across from her.

“She’s pretty…” Yanvis says while still looking at the floor, wondering if Katarina is unaware of how awkward this is or if she’s intentionally trying to push his buttons more than usual today. 

“Ha! Knew it, can’t wait to meet her.” Katarina says before bringing her attention back to her coffee. 

Yanvis raises his head again and catches Elmyra’s gaze just as she stops pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration. The two share a look and mutually decide to move on, even if there’s a small knot in Yanvis’ stomach since he knows where this is going to go next. 

“Are you sure this will last? I don’t doubt your intentions with this woman, but I recall another similar whirlwind romance you were a part of.” Elmyra starts, finally getting to the heart of the conversation.

“That was seven years ago.” Yanvis says. His response being equal parts defensive and meek. 

“It was, and yet you knew I would want to talk to you about this, you wanted me to talk to you about this even.” her own voice is more sharp, piercing through what little defense he tried to build up. “It is not my intention to judge you, I will always love you. However, to speak bluntly, you left a woman in the middle of the night. You broke her heart and your own. Are you confident you are able to not let those same insecurities lead you to another destructive decision?” her voice is calm and even, not a hint of judgement in it, just someone laying out the facts of the situation for his own good. 

Yanvis takes a moment to think to himself, it’s been seven years, he’s come to terms with his mistake and has even become friends with Saelqarin again. He’s been forthright with Allie about his mistakes, he’s made all the right moves, hasn’t he? It would be egotistical to act like there are no issues that could come about, but he’s not the same man he was back then, when he let the devil on shoulder talk him into the biggest mistake of his life. 

“Of course not.” he says, clear and confident. The two siblings eyeing each other. Yanvis trying his best to look unflappable and Elmyra scanning his face for any hesitation. Eventually her face gets softer, and another small smile forms on her lips.

“Then I too am excited to meet her.” is all she says before finishing her tea. 

Reviews

[Mirror]

Wow!!!! Great read!!!!!! I am new here and this is very encouraging! The work and efforts. I'll read it over again for detail review! Lemme not rush again!!!!